Applications often need to know what data looked like before. Who changed it, when it changed, and what the previous values were. Rebuilding that history in application code is tedious and error prone. This is especially valuable when exposing a database to an AI agent through MCP servers like SQL MCP Server, where information discovery matters. ...

Applications often need access to data without needing access to everything. Social Security numbers, email addresses, and phone numbers are common examples. Storing them is required. Exposing them broadly is not. This is especially valuable when exposing a database to an AI agent through MCP servers like SQL MCP Server, where safety and reversibil...

Sometimes applications need to remove data without actually losing it. Soft delete keeps rows in the database while making them invisible to normal application access. This is especially valuable when exposing a database to an AI agent through MCP servers like SQL MCP Server, where safety and reversibility matter. Learn more about SQL MCP Serve...

Data API builder (DAB) provides REST and GraphQL endpoints over SQL Server, Azure Cosmos DB, PostgreSQL, MySQL, and SQL Data Warehouse. The configuration value controls how REST endpoints treat unknown JSON properties in the payload: Read the documentation. Let's try it out The database table Imagine a simple table called Ca...

Data API builder (DAB) provides REST and GraphQL endpoints over SQL Server, Azure Cosmos DB, PostgreSQL, MySQL, and SQL Data Warehouse. REST endpoints support several HTTP headers that let you control how requests behave. These headers give you precision over updates, caching, and discovering new resources. If-Match By default, DAB treats PUT a...

Previously, developers were limited to the default log levels and filters hardcoded into DAB. With release 1.6, you can now configure filters and levels for logs emitted by the engine. This release also adds new sinks. In addition to Application Insights and OpenTelemetry publishing, Data API builder now supports both file and Azure Log Analytics a...

For decades, SQL Server has been a cornerstone of data management, evolving to meet the needs of modern developers. What began as a traditional relational engine is now a cloud-enabled, AI-integrated platform designed for building real-world applications. SQL Server continues to meet developers where they are—offering tools, services, and capabilit...

Announcing .NET Aspire Integration with Data API builder (DAB)   As engineers add components to their solution architecture, their development environments can become complex and difficult to replicate across teams and environments. Placing each service in a dedicated container simplifies the setup—but only if you're familiar with Dock...

Announcing Procedure Cache Data API builder (DAB) has long supported Level 1 cache for tables and views. Level 1 is an in-memory cache that automatically stores frequent queries or slow-changing data in the API layer, bypassing several database queries. Today, Data API builder (DAB) also supports Level 1 cache for stored procedures. This ...

Announcing Hot Reload In a recent release, Data API builder (DAB) announced support for Hot Reload. This allows developers to modify the configuration file, save it and see the impact of those changes without restarting the engine. This tightens the loop, allowing developers to tune their implementation without waiting for needless tear down...